Coffee capsule

ABSTRACT

The object of the invention concerns a coffee capsule, in particular a Nespresso™-compatible capsule that improves the yield of the product obtained through the use of a depression or concavity on the side where the water and/or steam enters the capsule, using a radial diversion of the flow of the water and/or steam that otherwise would enter along a axis parallel to the axis of the capsule.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of PCT Patent ApplicationPCT/IB2011/055250, filed on Nov. 23, 2011, and Italian PatentApplication PD2010A000358, filed on Nov. 25, 2010, both incorporatedherein by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a capsule for coffee and in particular a capsule thatis compatible with Nespresso™ (Trademark registered by Nestle).

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

As is well known Nespresso™ capsules have become a de facto standardover time, as a Now the tapered exterior form of this capsule, with aflat base that can break under the effect of the liquid that is injectedand that can be fitted with a fracture line if needed, and with an upperwall that is smaller than the base, is suitable for letting the liquidin, using an injection needle if required, is an unrestricted shape andin any event a required shape.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM

Naturally the capsule in this invention is not a simple reproduction ofthe shape of the Nespresso™ capsule, but rather solves the maindrawbacks that beset the existing capsules, improving them and makingthem more adaptable.

Indeed, the drawbacks of the Nespresso™ capsule have two main aspects:one substantial, and the other concerning compatibility.

Currently there have been numerous attempts to modify the originalcapsule, with variations in the shape, with the provision of a breakingzone, with the insertion of filters, done more so as not to appear to bea simple imitation than for other reasons, but nevertheless theseimitations have still not succeeded in making improvements and obtaininga coffee yield that is an improvement over the original capsule.

It seems paradoxical that after so much time on the market there hasbeen no success in a fundamental goal, namely improving the yield of theoriginal capsule, even if there is widespread agreement that the productobtained with the traditional capsule is quite satisfactory.

Only the invention in this patent has posed the basic question, whetherthe result obtained with the traditional capsules can be improved, interms of coffee yield, not only by using an appropriate coffee mixturebut above all by using a new and inventive capsule, and it succeeds indoing this by resolving the problem that has been identified, and thishas been demonstrated in trials.

Moreover, another drawback of the original capsules is that thesuccessive variants have not been able to find a solution, even if therehave been numerous attempts, regarding the brewing of soluble and leafyproducts.

All the capsules examined in the prior art in fact, when making a tea ora herbal tea, do not make use of all the product contained in thecapsule, but leave a good part of the product in the capsule unused.

What all the previous versions have in common is the presence of one ormore openings in the wall where the water goes in, or the use of one ofmore injection needles by which the heated water and/or the steam goesthrough the capsule, soaking the powder, soluble or otherwise, or theleafy products, in a direction towards the outlet with a flow that ispractically parallel to the main axis of the capsule, or in any eventwith a flow that creates The drawback of this arrangement leads to justa part of the product in the capsule being directly affected by thestream of fluid.

The part of the product in the capsule that is not directly hit by thestream of fluid, and which is not sufficiently used during the making ofthe drink, compromises the yield that is obtained with the prior artcapsules, and which just the capsule in this patent can improve to asurprising degree and in an unexpected manner with a yield thatpractically uses 100% of the product contained in the capsule.

To compensate for this deficiency, and above all to change the aroma andthe taste, especially of the coffee, the above-mentioned numerousvariants of the original capsule, without recognizing the real problem,sought to provide a remedy by modifying the number and the positions ofthe points where the water and the steam entered the capsule, with aneventual modification of the coffee mixture contained in the capsules,or else by trying various degrees of fineness of the coffee powder.

The results obtained with these above-mentioned attempts, when notdownright poor, were also influenced by the position of the capsuleduring the brewing, and therefore sometimes from a passable productionyou could get an average production, all things being equal, just byusing a machine with a different positioning of the capsule (for examplefrom vertical to horizontal, or vice-versa, you could dissolve only apart of the soluble product, tea, barley, etc.).

Therefore another purpose of this invention is to also overcome theabove-mentioned drawback, improving both the yield as well as thequality no matter what the position of the new capsule is.

Since there are numerous types of coffee machines with varyingconfigurations, each one designed to use its own capsule, the user isobliged to buy only the specific capsules for his machine, without beingable to use the capsules of a competitor, which are sometimes cheaperand also better because of the coffee mix used, and that produces anexcellent brew of coffee.

Another purpose of this invention is to overcome also thisabove-mentioned drawback, with just a single capsule that can adapt tothe numerous types of machines, while maintaining the above-mentionedprerogatives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above-mentioned aims are attained by a capsule for making coffeeand/or brews with a tubular body or a tapered body whose face where thewater and/or steam enters has a concavity or a depression that stretchesout and penetrates the interior of the body of the capsule, and whichhas a series of radial holes, and the inflow of water and/or steam thatcomes into said concavity, with a directional axis parallel to the mainaxis of said capsule, is deviated or diverted to pass through saidseries of radial holes to reach the inside of the body the capsule.

Other benefits and expedient characteristics of the capsule that is thesubject of this invention are listed below.

Said concavity has a tubular or tapered shape with said series of radialholes on the side wall, beneficially varying the effect of the flowdirection from parallel to the main axis of the capsule to practicallyor substantially radial.

Said concavity, since the volume in it includes a buffer chamber, blocksthe direct flow going straight to the outlet, avoiding preferentialchannels going straight to the outlet, and thereby guaranteeing thesubstantially full use of the content of the capsule.

Said concavity has a sort of pin or peg solidly connected to it and thatprotrudes with a tapered profile towards the inflow or open side of thedepression, where said pin is an element that diverts the flow in orderto facilitate changing the direction of the flow entering therearound.

Said radial holes have sizes such that they could be called a filterwith respect to the product contained in the capsule, avoiding the needto put a further filter element in the capsule or at the inlet.

Said holes are positioned near and/or adjacent to the inner wall of thewater inflow face, with an evident benefit of diverting the radial flowtowards the initial part of the capsule, namely its base, therebyaffecting the capsule's entire contents.

Said concavity is fully protected by a cover making the capsuleauto-protected, making any further protective packaging unnecessary.

Said cover can easily be replaced because the cover element is separatefrom the body of the capsule, thereby facilitating the choice ofmaterials in the design phase and the molding process.

Said cover can be perforated by an injection needle so as to be usedwith coffee machines that have this type of injection needle.

Said cover can be broken and/or cracked by the incoming water and/orsteam for machines that do not have a needle or when the user forgets totake off the cover before putting said capsule in the coffee machine.

Said cover can be broken by the pressure of the water in an area thatcan give way, so that it can be used in coffee machines that are notexpressly designed for using capsules with a water and/or steam inlethole that is closed.

The above-mentioned pin, moreover, because it can be sized so that itstop end is below the protective closure of the concavity of the cover,facilitates it being broken by the pressure.

Said cover can be removed to reveal a plain flap or another zone thatcan be easily gripped by the user in order to remove it.

Said concavity is set on a raised part of the flat face where the watergoes into the capsule, therefore remaining partially protruding from thebody of the capsule, creating a buffer chamber for the inflow pressurewith balanced pressure diffusion over the entire openings of the radialholes, thereby avoiding any concern about how this flow of water and/orsteam enters the concavity, or how a hole is made in the cover or how itis broken.

Said raised part has a height extension to give the entire capsuledimensions that are compatible with the machine in which said capsulewill be used.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned beneficial characteristics, and others describedbelow, can be better seen with reference to a non-restrictive preferredsolution set out in the following diagrams, where:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the capsule that is the object of theinvention.

FIG. 2 shows the capsule of FIG. 1 with a diametrical section.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative solution for the capsule with the concavityprotruding with respect to the surface of the top base of the capsule.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the capsule of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows the capsule of FIG. 3 with a diametrical section.

FIG. 6 is an enlargement of a part of the capsule shown in FIG. 5 withreference to the concavity.

FIG. 7 is an alternative solution for the positioning of the radialholes on the side surface of the concavity and the presence of a pininside the concavity is shown.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are enlargements of parts of the capsule shown in FIG.5 with reference to eventual strengthening ribs and the edge profilethat protrudes with respect to the tapered body.

FIG. 10, FIG. 11, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are examples of radial holes ormicro openings, interrupted and spaced, shown for display purposes on aflat expanse of a part of the inside surface of the concavity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The capsule 1 that is the object of this invention has a tubular body,and in particular, with reference to the specific case shown, a taperedbody 2, with a lower base 3 where the water comes out with an edge 4that protrudes from the tapered body 2, and an upper base wall 5,parallel and opposite to the lower surface 3, which constitutes the facewhere the water and/or steam goes in.

On the lower base 3, and more precisely on said edge 4, it is easy tojoin, either through welding, gluing or the like, a laminar layer forclosing and holding the powder or leafy material for brewing that isinside the body of the capsule 1.

The wall of the upper base 5 has, preferably in the center, an openconcavity 6 that extends towards the inside of the body of the capsule1. Said concavity 6, with its tubular shape, has a side wall 8 closed ona concavity base 7.

This side wall is completely inside the section of the capsule 1 and onthe surface of this capsule 1 to the volume inside said concavity 6.Said radial holes 9 can take the form of micro apertures.

In the event that the form of this concavity is tapered or funnel-shaped(as shown in the diagrams) the base of the concavity 7 makes up thesmaller base.

It is clear from the diagrams that the flow of water and/or steam goingin, forced inside said concavity 6 along an axis parallel to the mainaxis of said capsule 1, is obstructed by the presence of the smallerbase 7 of this concavity 6 and is forced to divert its path passingthrough said series of radial holes on the side surface 8 of theconcavity 6.

In the case where said radial holes 9 are micro apertures, they can alsotake on the role of a filter, with aperture sizes compatible with thecontent of the capsule 1.

Clearly both the radial holes 9 as well as the micro apertures can alsoextend to the outermost diametrical part of the base of the concavity 7,in any case having a diversion of the flow, as shown in the enlargementof FIG. 6, or else just affect the side surface 8 of the concavity 6 asshown in FIG. 7.

Said concavity 6 can have its aperture directly on the wall of saidupper base 5 of the capsule 1, or it can be slightly offset on a planetowards the outside with respect to said capsule 1.

In this configuration the height of the capsule increases by an amountequal to the height h (FIG. 6) of the ring 10 that protrudes withrespect to the upper base 5 of the capsule 1.

By appropriately varying the height h of said ring 10 it is easilypossible to obtain capsules 1 that are suited to and compatible withvarious types of coffee machines.

The flow of water and/or steam put into the concavity 6, which acts as abuffer chamber, in a direction parallel to the main axis, finding saidradial holes that start just below the wall of the upper base 5 or, inthe case of a protruding concavity, which are also placed outside beyondthe surface 5, is diverted lapping the internal part of the upper base5, namely the bottom 11 of the capsule 1, guaranteeing the substantiallycomplete infusion of the powder or anything else contained in thecapsule 1.

To increase this divergence a pin 12 in the center of the concavity base7 is used that rises up towards the opening. A conical profile of saidpin 12 helps the inflow change direction, from parallel to the main axisto radial and perpendicular to it.

By appropriately sizing said pin 12 and putting its end, preferablypointed, near and underneath any cover of the entrance to the concavity6 (solidly joined along the perimeter of the ring 10 or directly ontothe surface 5), this allows the cover to be easily broken by thepressure of the water and/or steam coming in.

Along the inner surface of the funnel-shaped body 2 there are one ormore ribs 13, protruding towards the inside, which in addition toproviding an effective structural seal for the funnel-shaped body 2,prevent, by interrupting them, any flows in a straight line that mightform on the inner surface of the body, minimally affecting the contentof the infusion.

In order to avoid the use of a containment filter for the brewedmaterial in the part where the water and/or the steam enter, the radialholes 9 on the side wall 8 of the concavity 6 can be configured eitherwith holes 14 of an appropriate dimension or with micro openings 15 thathave a suitable aperture.

Even if the illustration of FIGS. 10, 11, 12 and 13 refers to a flatexpanse of a side surface of a tubular concavity 6, it is obvious thatthe arrangement of these holes 14 and micro openings 15, or otherequivalent apertures, will be compatible with the effective side wallthat the concavity will have.

It is evident that with the object of the invention, which has been madeto expressly improve and overcome the drawbacks of a specific capsule,you can also use a generic tubular capsule with the same benefits andundeniable improvements and advantages, avoiding any drawbacks thatmight be similar to those that affect the specific capsule in question.

1) Nespresso™ compatible capsule for making coffee and/or brews with abody in the shape of a truncated cone (2), characterised by the factthat on the side where the water and/or steam goes in there is aconcavity or a depression (6) that stretches out and penetrates theinterior of the body (2) of the capsule, in which depression (6) thereis a series of radial holes (9) through which the inflow of water and/orsteam that comes into said depression (6), with an axis parallel to themain axis of said capsule (1), is deviated to pass through the insidebody (2) of the capsule (1) itself. 2) Nespresso™ compatible capsule formaking coffee and/or brews with a tubular body, characterised by thefact that on the side where the water and/or steam goes in there is aconcavity or a depression (6) that stretches out and penetrates theinterior of the body (2) of the capsule, in which depression (6) thereis a series of radial holes (9) through which the inflow of water and/orsteam that comes into said depression (6), with an axis parallel to themain axis of said capsule (1), is deviated to pass through the insidebody (2) of the capsule (1) itself. 3) Nespresso™ compatible capsuleaccording to claim 1 or a capsule according to claim 2, characterised bythe fact that said depression (6) has a tubular or truncated cone shapewith said series of radial holes (9) on the side wall (8), varying theincidence of the flow of water and/or steam going in from parallel tothe main axis of the capsule (1) to practically radial. 4) Nespresso™compatible capsule according to claim 1 or a capsule according to claim2, characterised by the fact that said depression (6), with the volumeincluded in it a transition chamber defined by a side wall (8) closed ona depression base (9), blocks the flow of water and/or steam going in astraight line towards the outlet of the capsule (1) obstructed by saiddepression base (7), and avoiding the presence of preferential channelsof the rectilinear flow towards the outlet, diverging the radial flow ofthe water and/or steam in order to make full, use of all the content inthe body (2) of the capsule (1). 5) Nespresso™ compatible capsuleaccording to claim 1 or a capsule according to claim 2, characterised bythe fact that inside the volume of this depression (6) there is a peg,whose profile that is tapered towards the flow coming in, facilitatesthe divergence of the flow in the change of direction from parallel tothe main axis of the capsule (1) to radial. 6) Nespresso™ compatiblecapsule according to claim 1 or a capsule according to claim 2,characterised by the fact that within the volume of this depression (6)there is a pointed peg against the direction of the flow of the waterand/or steam coming in, which facilitates the breaking of a protectiveclosure on the entrance to the depression (6), with said protectiveclosure, or cover, solidly joined to the outer edge of the depression(6). 7) Nespresso™ compatible capsule according to claim 1 or a capsuleaccording to claim 2, characterised by the fact that said radial holeshave hole sizes such that it could be called a filter with respect tothe product contained in the capsule, avoiding the need to put a furtherfilter element at the entrance. 8) Nespresso™ compatible capsuleaccording to claim 1 or a capsule according to claim 2, characterised bythe fact that said radial holes (9) are arranged adjacent to the insidewall, or bottom (11) of the side where the water enters (5), with theclear advantage of deviating the radial flow towards the bottom (11) ofthe capsule (1), thereby affecting all the content in it. 9) Nespresso™compatible capsule according to claim 1 or a capsule according to claim2, characterised by the fact that said depression (6) is protected by acover thereby creating a self-protected capsule (1), avoiding furtherpackaging protection. 10) Nespresso™ compatible capsule according to theprevious claim, characterised by the fact that said cover can be removedwith a plain flap or another zone that can be easily gripped by the userin order to remove it. 11) Nespresso™ compatible capsule according toclaim 1 or a capsule according to claim 2, characterised by the factthat said depression (6) is put on a raise part of the flat side wherethe water enters the capsule (1), therefore partly protruding from thebody of the capsule (1). 12) Nespresso™ compatible capsule according toclaim 9, characterised by the fact that said cover, which renders saidcapsule 1 auto-protected, can be broken or cracked by the pressure ofthe water and/or the steam coming in. 13) Nespresso™ compatible capsuleaccording to claim 9, characterised by the fact that said cover, whichrenders said capsule 1 auto-protected, can be penetrated by an injectionneedle in order to adapt to coffee machines that use this type ofinjection needle.